


Borrowed Memories

by Mikari



Category: Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-25
Updated: 2014-05-25
Packaged: 2018-01-26 10:08:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1684505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mikari/pseuds/Mikari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After being kidnapped and abandoned in Midgar, you try to recover from the experience and understand the strange dreams and memories and keep surfacing but are not yours. ReaderxVincent</p>
            </blockquote>





	Borrowed Memories

Borrowed Memories

Your surroundings were dull and gray. You were strapped down to a cold examination table, and an unpleasant face hovered above you. You felt the sting of a needle and once again blacked out. 

When you woke up again, only in a semi-conscious state, you were being carried by someone and dreaded the closeness of this process. You were set down; resting your back against a door and the unpleasant person left you there. You were still tired, exhausted, and once again fell asleep.

In your dreams you saw a man with raven hair and ruby eyes, wearing a navy business suit. He would smile at you, and take you on picnics. He was always caring and gentle. You deeply cared for him in that dream, but your heart belonged to another, one who completely out of reach.

xoxox xox xoxox

When you woke up and stared at the unfamiliar ceiling, the dream still fresh in your mind, you realized how foreign it felt, as if that dream was not yours at all.

"You're awake, how do you feel?" A woman with long dark hair and a kind expression asked you.

"I'm okay I think, but my head hurts and I'm sleepy and hungry," panic hit you all at once as you glanced around the room trying to take in your surroundings. "Where am I? Who are you?"

"Calm down, you're safe now. I'm Tifa and you're at the Seventh Heaven." The kind woman replied.

"Seventh Heaven?" You didn't remember such a place existing at Costa del Sol.

"Yes, in Midgar," you stared at her with wide eyes.

"Midgar?!" You had left your home of Rocket Town to form your own life. You had gone as far as Costa del Sol, but had not been to Midgar before.

"What's your name? Do you remember what happened to you?" Tifa looked concerned.

"I'm (name) and I was supposed to be at Costa del Sol... I think I was kidnapped," you shuddered at the thought. "I heard that young girls were disappearing from Costa del Sol at night, but I was new there and thought it was just an urban legend. I needed a job so I took the late shift at the inn that no one wanted to take. I was walking to my apartment at night and... that's all I remember."

Tifa gave you an understanding look. "That's terrible, but you're safe now so just think about recovering, okay? Stay in bed, I'll bring you some food."

"Thank you," at least you were left at the doorstep of someone with a kind heart, but you didn't understand why someone would kidnap you than leave you behind in another city. If he wanted to steal, why not just leave you unconscious in the street at Costa del Sol? If murder was intended then it would have already happened, and there was no talk of ransom. It made no sense, and that made you worry more.

xoxox xox xoxox

A few days passed and you regained some strength. You wanted to repay Tifa and the people who helped nurse you back to health. You met her childhood friend Cloud and two children that lived with them, Marlene and Denzel. 

xoxox xox xoxox

You headed down the stairs, now wearing clothes borrowed from Tifa, since yours were dirty and stained in green, purple and blood red, though you had no injuries or cuts. You noticed that the Seventh Heaven was quite busy, run as a restaurant by day and a bar in the evening and night. It seemed that all the workers of the city came to eat breakfast there and then it got quiet later on.

"Good morning Tifa, let me help you with something," you offered.

"Are you sure you recovered enough?" Tifa asked.

"Yes, I'm alright now," physically at least you were.

Tifa nodded. "Okay then, you can take the orders from the customers and bring them to me." She handed you a small notepad and pen.

"No problem," you headed off to play waitress as a new group of people arrived, discussing something concerning the World Restoration Organization. "Good morning!" You greeted them as cheerful as you could, two nodded in response, another said a quiet good morning and the forth replied with the same energy you spoke. You scanned the restaurant for an empty table and led them to it.

You gave them time to look at the breakfast menus that where already set on the table before asking, "may I take your orders?"

"I want pancakes!" An energetic girl in her late teens spoke. "Pancakes and grape juice!" You wrote it down.

"Pancakes sound good," a formally dressed man in his thirties agreed. "I would like pancakes and milk."

Another man also in his thirties gave him an odd look. He had blonde hair, blue eyes and goggles. "Pancakes and milk?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Milk is good for you," the first man countered.

The man with the goggles shrugged. "Give me pancakes and tea then." You wrote down both orders.

The last one to order was a man with ebony hair who looked to be in his twenties but was much older than that. His eyes were red, just like the eyes of the man in your dream. In fact they looked a lot alike and you were lost staring at him.

"Miss?" You woke from your daze and blinked.

"Sorry, what did you say your order was?" You tried to act natural.

"Pancakes and coffee, please." You nodded and wrote it down, then went back to the counter. You couldn't get the image of the dark haired man with red eyes out of your head, and the dream kept coming back into your memories.

After the food was prepared you went to serve it, carefully balancing the large tray. You placed each dish and drink in front of the one who ordered it and once again stole another long glance at the man in the red cloak. "Let me know if you need anything else."

You kept watching him from the corner of your eyes as you tended to the other customers. Though you were sure you had never met him before, he looked very familiar, and you felt that you could trust him.

While you took orders from the nearby tales, you heard the group from the World Restoration Organization talking. "Will you stop staring at her from the corner of your eyes and just ask her out already?" The man with the goggles spoke and the girl giggled at the sudden outburst.

"Excuse me?" The man with black hair acted as if he did not know what they spoke of, because he truly didn't. If he had been looking at you, it had been a subconscious action that he could not explain.

"The waitress," the man with the goggles specified. "You keep looking at her?"

"I have been doing no such thing, Cid." Vincent was not the kind to deny doing something he had done, so maybe he really didn't notice; and you wondered how in the world do you knew his name was Vincent? You knew the man with the goggles was Cid because the man with the red cloak, Vincent, had just said his name, but you didn't remember the name of Vincent being mentioned, yet you were sure that was his name.

"Yes you have," Cid insisted.

"I'll have to agree," the other man voiced.

"Me too!" The girl echoed.

Shaking his head, Cid called you over. "Waitress!"

Vincent gave him a disapproving look, but it was too late because you already there. "How may I help you?" You tried not to stare at the man you thought was named Vincent.

"My friend here as wondering if you're single," Cid asked, motioning toward Vincent.

You blushed, "I am..."

"See? You'll never know unless you ask," Cid laughed.

"If you must be late for work, I will understand," the man who ordered milk smiled mischievously.

Vincent looked displeased, "stop that."

"Hey Reeve, how come you never let me be late for work?" The girl pouted.

Reeve shook his head, "you're still young Yuffie, you're not lonely and in desperate need of love."

"I'm not lonely and in desperate need of love," Vincent retorted, "you are."

Reeve's mouth hung open but no words come out. Yuffie and Cid laughed. "Touché!" Cid gave Reeve a pat on the back.

You couldn't help it but to giggle at their antics, but stopped when Vincent looked directly at you. "I apologize for the trouble miss. I didn't mean to cause you any discomfort, it's just that..."

You urged him to continue, "yes?"

"Your aura feels familiar," it was an unexpected thing to say and Vincent's companions were already teasing him about his odd pick up line.

"Oh... Um... yours too," you stuttered, though it was all true, then an awkward silence formed.

Yuffie motioned for you to give her the notepad and pen. She wrote something down while looking at her cellphone and gave it back to you, while Vincent gave her a suspicious look. "Never leave your cellphone unattended."

The name of Vincent had been written on the one of the small sheets with a phone number below it. "Thanks," you smiled.

xoxox xox xoxox

It had been several days since your first encounter with the man that was in fact called Vincent. You saw him often when he went to eat at the Seventh Heaven and you've gone from shy glances to actually forming short conversations, until you gained the courage to call him one evening while you were on break. You knew that man held many mysteries that you didn't know of, but at the same time you felt that you knew many of them somehow.

Before Shinra started funding the public schools, Marlene and Denzel were home schooled and helped out around the Seventh Heaven. Now they went to school with other children and the Seventh Heaven was quite crowded. Reeve had trusted Cloud with the WRO deliveries, thus giving him a steadier job, but that also meant Tifa was left alone to manage the Seventh Heaven during the day.

You were offered a permanent job at the Seventh Heaven and took it. It's not like you had much to go back to at Costa del Sol and you had already decided to leave the quiet Rocket Town. You got an apartment at Midgar in the same building as Vincent. You just needed to go to Costa del Sol to get some things and move them. You didn't own a lot of things, but you wanted to bring back what you had.

You were surprised to find Vincent there on the day you got on the ship. He mentioned Tifa had told him about you going back to Costa del Sol to get your things. You were relieved he was coming with you. Inevitably, it would be night time by the time the ship reached the Costa del Sol port and you had been avoiding going out at night.

As the sun sunk in the horizon, you and Vincent watched it. You had gone from feeling as if you knew him, to actually getting to know him. That feeling you had before of liking someone close to him in a different way from how you liked him vanished, the name Grimore, which had appeared in one of your dreams, disappearing along with those thoughts. The thoughts of the lack of similarities between you and Vincent and fitting in better with someone else also faded away and you wondered why you thought that way in the first place, but you somehow knew those thoughts weren't yours and the dreams of people you didn't recognize felt like someone else's memories.

"Vincent, when you said my aura felt familiar when we first met, what did you mean?" You asked.

"You remind me of someone," Vincent admitted. "But I realize that you're different from her." It was strange, hard to explain. 

"Is that bad?" You asked.

"No," he replied. Though it all started because you reminded him of Lucrecia, he had come to appreciate you for yourself in time.

xoxox xox xoxox

The ship reached the port and you and Vincent returned to your apartment. Luckily you found the owner sorting through some work even if it was late and asked for a spare key since the one you carried had been stolen along with your cellphone and gil. "I thought I wouldn't see you again, I even called the police with all the missing girls at that time."

"Sorry to have worried you," the elderly man was the fatherly type and had been quite helpful when you first arrived at Costa del Sol. He glanced at Vincent wondering if you had simply snuck off with a man and that was the reason for your disappearance, but did not comment on it.

xoxox xox xoxox

You and Vincent went up to your old apartment, opened the door and turned on the lights. You automatically placed the spare key on the coffee table and walked towards the bedroom. None of the furniture was yours, it was there when you moved in, and most of your belongings were in the bedroom. You paused and retraced your steps to the coffee table, staring in disbelief. A wallet had been placed there next to a cellphone, its battery already drained completely. You picked up the familiar wallet and noted that everything that should be in it was in it, and a cold chill went up your spine.

"(name), are you alright?" Vincent looked concerned to see you suddenly become so pale.

"My wallet and phone..." you muttered. "I had them then I was attacked that night. I thought they were stolen." The realization sunk in and you felt sick. "He was here; the one who attacked me was here." You felt your knees give in and Vincent had to catch you.

You clung to him while he held you protectively. "I won't let anyone hurt you," Vincent assured you. "I promise," he would not fail to protect someone he cared for ever again.

You trusted him, not only did the memories your dreams borrowed tell you that, but your own heart also did. "Vincent..." you passed out...

In your dream you held a small chip; you knew it was important containing vast data concerning Jenova, the planet, the life stream and so much more. You placed the tiny chip inside a heart shaped golden locket and closed it. You put the locket's chain around your neck and hit it in your shirt. As you walked out of the strange room overloaded with books, you caught a glimpse of your reflection in the glass of a large tank, but that woman was not you.

When you woke up, you had been placed in bed and Vincent was watching over you. "I'm alright really, I was just surprised," you noted the worried look in his eyes.

"Rest, I will stay with you." You smiled at your protector and drifted off to sleep, once again dreaming about Vincent, with shorter hair and a navy uniform; and every time you saw your reflection in those dreams, you did not see yourself, but her, a woman you had never met before.

xoxox xox xoxox

The next morning you insisted that you were alright and packed your things. Vincent still kept an eye on you and helped you carry the luggage. When you were about to leave, you spoke to the building's owner once again. "Have you seen anyone suspicious around here?"

The elderly man thought back, "well a lot of people come here, some of them do look suspicious sometimes."

"A man with black hair and glasses who looks like a mad scientist," you didn't know where the description came from, but Vincent tensed up as you spoke.

"Yes, a creepy old man who likes to spend time at the beach with young girls," the building's owner nodded. "His arrival matches the date when the girls started to go missing. I thought it was strange and told the police. They said they made an investigation and he was completely innocent. If you ask me, I think there was bribery involved, maybe even threats. But the girls are not disappearing anymore; you were the last one to go missing, and the only to return."

It made you feel as if whatever purpose the mad scientist wanted to accomplish, had been accomplished with you, and thus he no longer needed to kidnap any more girls. You wondered if it was somehow linked to those unfamiliar memories that showed up in your dreams.

xoxox xox xoxox

Vincent was tense during the entire ship ride back to Midgar and you wanted to know why. You knew the man in your dreams was Vincent, his hair and clothes were different but it was him. You asked him to come in and sit down. "Did you ever have shorter hair and used to wear a navy business suit?"

Vincent gave you a surprised look, "yes, I used to be a Turk. How do you know that?"

"I had a dream about it. In the dream you called me Lucrecia," you remembered.

The name took Vincent by surprise. "You were dreaming Lucrecia's dream?" He wasn't sure how it was possible, but it would explain why your presence felt so familiar to him when you first met.

Screams were suddenly heard, hurried footsteps sounded out and you and Vincent rushed out to see what it was. Just outside the apartment building stood a strange creature, a monster pieced together from mismatching limbs. The man who looked like a mad scientist was also there.

The large monster held two children, a boy and a girl, threatening to crush them. "The memories carried in the cells I gave you should have surfaced by now," the creepy man spoke to you. "So many specimens failed until I finally found one that didn't reject her cells. Tell me, that piece of information you hid from me, where is it? Tell me or they die."

Cloud and Tifa are also there, chasing after the creature that took Marlene and Denzel hostage. "Hojo," Vincent spoke bitterly, he wished to shoot that man, Hojo deserved it, but he had hostages.

"Tell me!" Hojo demanded. 

Suddenly you knew what he's talking about. "A golden heart shaped locket," you revealed in fear that he would hurt the children if you didn't. "Lucrecia gave it to..." you paused and looked at Vincent.

Vincent retrieved a golden heart locket from his pocket. "Is this it?" 

You recognize it right away and nodded.

Vincent tossed the locket to Hojo. The crazy scientist held a controller with of the same silvery color as a collar around the monster's neck. When Hojo was distracted, Vincent shot the collar off the creature and the strange being let the children go, instead attacking its master.

"Fools! There's nothing you can do now!" Vincent shot at Hojo, Cloud slashed at him with his sword and Tifa attacked. However, in the end, the villain escaped, but at least Marlene and Denzel were safe.

The group went back to Vincent's apartment, where Vincent revealed he had removed the chip from inside the locket long ago. He crushed the small chip with his golden claw so that Hojo would never obtain whatever secret information Lucrecia stored in it. They all agree to stay on the look out for Hojo.

After Cloud, Tifa, Marlene and Denzel had returned home, you finished putting all the pieces together. Hojo wanted to find the files Lucrecia hid from him. He kidnapped girls at Costa del Sol and injected Lucrecia's cells into them, but many rejected the cells. Finally he found a girl who didn't reject the cells and left her where she could interact with Vincent, someone whom Lucrecia knew, so that Lucrecia's memories would surface and Hojo could obtain the information he needed.

Vincent held you close and promised to protect you. "I'm not her," you whispered, "I have Lucrecia's cells but I'm not her."

"I know," Vincent spoke lovingly. "The reason I care for you is not simply because you reminded me of her. I love you for who you are." He kissed you and despite all that happened, you were happy to have been able to meet Vincent Valentine. Your hero whom you knew would always be there for you.

End

**Author's Note:**

> Fantasy Bit: http://mikari.piratesboard.net
> 
> Deviant Art: http://mikaristar.deviantart.com
> 
> Fanart Central: http://fanart-central.net/user/AzureMikari/
> 
> Twitter: http://twitter.com/MiliAzure


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